A DYING boy was granted one of his final wishes after his health took a turn for the worse.

Friends and family of Jason Martindale made a huge effort to rush a rally car to his hospice.

The 16-year-old from Leasowe has been fighting leukaemia for eight years, but it has now spread to his spine and his health has deteriorated fast over the past week.

ECHO readers have been helping to grant Jason’s three last wishes, to have a kickabout with the Liverpool FC team, ride in a rally car and swim with dolphins.

We joined forces with LFC to grant his main wish arranging a meeting with his Reds heroes in April. And Carl Ayriss and Tom Williams had promised to take Jason round a racing circuit in a Renault Clio racing car, but Jason is now bed-bound at Claire House and hooked to a morphine drip.

Yesterday Carl and Tom missed a race in Portsmouth to bring the car, which belongs to Deefab and Quentin Laithwaite, to Wirral.

They parked the car outside Jason’s room so he could see it and listen to the engine rev.

Jayne Crawley, a family friend who helped organise the car, said: “This has been overwhelming. It has not only meant the world to Jason, but also to his mum Marie. We have made a boy’s dream come true.

“When you see children in this condition and all they want is three small wishes what can you do but try and grant them?

“Jason opened his eyes when he heard the engine. We all think he knew that the car was here and that was a real comfort for the whole family.”

Jason’s sister Kimberley Kirby, 19, said: “It is not looking good. He has taken a turn for the worse and has not slept for the last three days.

“We think he is scared to go to sleep because he is scared he will not wake up. We are trying to do the best for him and make the most of what time we have got left.

“We cannot thank everyone who has tried to help Jason enough for all that they have done.”